“Hey!” Bo shouts from the kitchen in an equally warning and defensive tone. He reallydoeshear everything that happens in this diner.
“No offense to the military,” I say, raising my hands slightly in surrender. “You know my brother’s in the Navy. But worrying about Harris is enough for me. I have no interest in adding to that.”
My phone rings in my back pocket and when I slide it out, I see my brother’s picture on my display.
I smile as I answer the call. “Hey, Harris! I was just talking about you.”
“Hey,” my brother greets me.
His voice sounds… off. He’s a pretty easy-going, contented guy ordinarily, and even more so since he got married last winter. So the tension in his reply is uncommon.
But even more odd was the simple, one-word response he just gave me. It makes my brow crease.
With my brother and sister, I can pretty much predict what they’ll say next. That just comes with being siblings, I suppose. And me saying to Harris, “I was just talking about you,” would usually earn a response of something like “And nothing good to say about me, I’ll bet”or“My reputation precedes me.”
But today? Nothing. No witty repartee.
Immediately, I’m on edge.
“Everything okay?” I ask, my tone guarded.
“Of course,” he answers automatically.Tooautomatically. “How are things down there?”
I pause a moment to look at the bright sunshine peering through the windows. “Perfect day for the beach. You, Ava, and Nicholas should totally come down here sometime,” I suggest.
“Sounds great. I’ll tell her. I, uh…Iprobably won’t be able to for a while though.”
That’s when I recognize his tone.
It’s been a good handful of years since I’ve heard it, but I still can’t mistake it. The way he sounds now takes me right back to those conversations we’d have before he was deploying as a SEAL, asking me to check in on Mom and Dad a little more often than I usually would.
I get a lump in my throat just thinking of it, a million memories rushing back to me like the tide coming in from the ocean.
“You’re deploying.” I say it in a hushed tone.
But standing at this counter, I sense several sets of eyes nearby snapping to me.
And I don’t even mind because I like the people around me.
Then, before he can even answer, I suck in a breath and add, “For how long?”